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The first mention of the term wetback in The New York Times is dated June 20, 1920.[4] It was used officially by the US government, including Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1954,[5] with 'Operation Wetback', a project that involved the mass deportation of illegal Mexican immigrants.[6] Usage of the term appeared in mainstream media outlets until the 1960s.[7]
The term can also be used as an adjective or verb. As an adjective, it pertains to activities involving Mexican illegal aliens in the United States. The earliest known recorded use in this way is by John Steinbeck in the novel Sweet Thursday, the sequel to Cannery Row, with the sentence, "How did he get in the wet-back business?" It was originally used as a verb in 1978 in Thomas Sanchez's Hollywoodland with the meaning, "to gain illegal entry into the United States by swimming the Rio Grande".[8]
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"If Israelis don't want to be accused of being like the Nazis, they simply need to stop behaving like Nazis." - Norman Finkelstein
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